Wednesday, November 3, 2021

The misfits among the people had a craving and soon they had the People of Israel whining, “Why can’t we have meat? We ate fish in Egypt—and got it free!—to say nothing of the cucumbers and melons, the leeks and onions and garlic. But nothing tastes good out here; all we get is manna, manna, manna.” (Numbers 11: 5 -6, The Message Bible)

                 Happy garlic week!

                I bet a lot of you didn’t know that this is Ontario Garlic Week. I know I didn’t until I read about it today. There may even be a garlic festival near you. A whole week just to celebrate a small, smelly, taint-your-breath, ordinary vegetable which we use to spice up our meals.

                Garlic is a favourite ingredient of mine. I use it a lot. I make mouth watering, delicious garlic spare ribs. I always use it my stews. I prefer my steaks au naturel but I don’t mind using garlic on them either. Lamb chops always have to have garlic.

                There are medicinal qualities to garlic. It is believed that garlic can reduce cholesterol, increase your immune function, lower blood pressure to name a few things.  It’s a small price for smelly breath although its pill form has no odour.

                Let’s all lift up our voices for garlic!

                The Israelites have grown weary of wandering in the wilderness. Some long for a return to Egypt where they remember having food like leeks, onions and garlic. Of course, what they are too easily forgetting is that they were also slaves in Egypt. Having garlic came with a heavy price – making bricks without straw. (Exodus 5: 6 -9) Nevertheless, the people were wanting to return to their former state so that they may enjoy the savouriness of their past lives of slavery.

                God had given them manna – a bread-like plant. But they were sick and tired of this bounty.  Let’s go back. What’s  a few extra bricks if we can  have fish and vegetables and leeks, onions and garlic. Oh my!

                Hindsight can sometimes be 20/20. But also, sometimes, remembering what we think were the good ol’ days can be a trap. We prefer to see the past through rose-tinted glasses and extol all the virtues we think we once had. But we overlook the heavy cost of those things; forgetting the labour, the pain, the suffering. If we feel we are stuck in the present, the past can look pretty good. No matter how much God has provided for us we want something more, something better, something we think we are missing. Even if it means returning to that which once held us in  its power and grip, it seem a better if not bitter pill to swallow.

                Paul proclaims that because of the extravagant work of Jesus we have been freed from the slavery of sin. “Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.”(Galatians 5:1, New Living Translation) Once we gain our freedom through Christ there should be no going back to  former ways of living which may have caused us misfortune, domination, or labouring under powers that wish to do us no good.

But the temptation is always there, isn’t it – to allow the past to dictate our feelings in the present and for the future. To complain that God is letting us down. To whine about what we don’t have. To wish for the past even if that past was not really to our benefit.

Do we want God or do we want garlic?

Do we want freedom or do we want leeks?

Do we want salvation or do we want onions?

Nobody ever said or promised that gaining the Promised Land was a simple, easy venture. It has its frustrations and challenges. But if I need to make a choice between onions, leeks and garlic from my past and the banquet feast God has in store for us in the future if I but continue to trust God for all my needs today,  just pass the salt and I will be on my way!

Dale